Disney Reveals New Star Wars Land Art, But No New Details

February 21, 2016, 8:24 PM ·
The Walt Disney Company tonight revealed new concept renderings for Star Wars Land during a televised tribute to the 60th anniversary of Disneyland.

Harrison Ford hosted the two-and-a-half minute segment, which did not reveal any new location names, opening dates, or additional operational detail beyond what Disney announced last summer at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, when Disney first confirmed the Star Wars Land project. Disney is building two Star Wars-themed lands, one at Disneyland in Anaheim and the other in Florida at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

The two lands will include a ride where visitors will pilot the Millennium Falcon and a ride where visitors will be caught in a battle between the First Order and the Resistance. Dining locations will include a Catina, and the land will include multiple shops and character meet and greets.

Concept art courtesy Disney

Construction has begun at Disneyland, where the Rivers of America attractions and Disneyland Railroad are down for the rest of 2015 as Disney reroutes them to make way for the new land, which will be located north of the Rivers of America, from Fantasyland to Critter Country. At Walt Disney World, Disney has announced the closure of several attractions, including part of the Streets of America, the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground and the Lights, Motors, Action auto stunt show. The area cleared by those attractions is widely suspected to be part of the site for Star Wars Land in Florida.

February 21, 2016 at 9:53 PM ·
There's about 19 artwork pictures on Magic now, many of them new. Yes, the show was a bit of a bore. The Bazaar shopping area conception looks a lot like the Bazaar in IOA's Lost Continent.

76.102.9.182

February 21, 2016 at 10:42 PM ·
Ok, what I got from the new artwork though is an idea of what the First Order ride will be and I saw it very Spiderman/ Transformer influenced which means all the Stars Wars rides will be simulators. I am very excited to see what Disney will be doing with something Universal does very well

February 21, 2016 at 11:59 PM ·
I didn't see the show (may watch when it's available online, but I'm hearing it's not good), but I did find the Star Wars Land segment and it was about what I expected. Looks like the rumors were probably right about the rides: An interactive motion simulator attraction (Millennium Falcon) and a trackless motion-base ride with a combination of sets and screens (First Order Battle). The concept art looks great, and I'm excited for the land, but I'm not expecting a full reveal on names or details until the next D23.

February 22, 2016 at 4:48 AM ·
I watched it. OMG, two hours of my life lost forever. It started out promising, and since I was just there I got to say "I was there!", "I saw that!", "That's were I got my Dole Whip float!" Then it turned into an overproduced variety show that used Disneyland and DCA as a backdrop (occasionally) for songs that could hardly be recognized as Disney. Mostly, though, it was in the Dolby Theater, and seemed to ignore the face that it was a tribute to Disneyland and not to the Disney franchise. Kermit the Frog singing "Rainbow Connection"? I don't remember him even being mentioned at Disneyland. I love Fall Out Boys but they are hardly the first thing I think about when I think of Disney, and their rendition of...I heard it was from the Jungle Book but I couldn't recognize it, with their bimbo backup dancers was so out of place at a Disneyland 60th anniversary special that I thought I had bumped the channel button on the remote. Yes, I am angry, and offended that they wasted my time on the premise that something of importance was going to be announced, and even more that they squandered such a "diamond" opportunity to praise the park that has had such a powerful impact on American/world culture. A waste of my time.

February 22, 2016 at 10:28 AM ·
I'm so glad that I didn't watch this live, and instead popped it on my DVR and zipped through it. It took me about 15 minutes to watch the nearly 2-hour show, and that included a double-take on the Star Wars segment. Very disappointing, especially since Disney publicized the Star Wars reveal rather heavily, including teasers during the show itself.

The only thing new that I gleaned from the spot was the possibility that perhaps the two parks were getting slightly different lands. Based on the various pieces of concept art, I can't visualize them all appearing in Disneyland, and the likelihood is that the drawings revealed themed areas from both Disneyland and DHS.

The only other minor thing I took from the spot was that some of the concept drawings look a lot like Universal's WWoHP, particularly the marketplace drawing that appeared straight off the Diagon Alley drawing board.

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February 22, 2016 at 8:01 AM ·
Let me sum up these reviews of the show: "Get off my lawn with your new-fangled music! I want a documentary on Disneyland!"

I enjoyed the show. It wasn't the best ever, but I liked the performances and understand why they use music for a 2-hour special. Disney has been doing this since the 80s. The only thing that Disney doesn't seem to get is that these specials should be truly live; that's what makes watching special, as you may see a mistake or may see something amazing.

As per Star Wars, it did feel like there were a few very tiny new things to see; I didn't expect more than what we got.

66.87.123.28

February 22, 2016 at 9:06 AM ·
Re-James.

Just thought I'd let you know that it's actually spelled "Fallout Boy," no plural. I know it's not a big deal, but my sister's huge into punk rock and I couldn't help imagining how angry she would be if I had showed her that. #siblinggoals

Sorry to hear that the anniversary show was bad. Looks like I won't be watching, then.

February 22, 2016 at 10:18 AM ·
AJ, I hope you're right about the First Order ride. I don't want both rides to be all about screens. I don't have a problem with screen-based attractions, I just think a new land should offer more variety than that.

As for the TV special, I'm glad I missed it. I was at DLR last year for the 60th, I certainly didn't need to see this mishmash TV special.

216.172.26.2

February 22, 2016 at 11:10 AM ·
Our whole family watched it and have to say we enjoyed it thoroughly! Yes many parts were cliche and alot of it seemed like a big plug for the whole Disney Company--but as Disney fans who cares! I do wish they could have done a little more within the parks too. Not to mention that they could have ended with a better song as I don't know one person who knew the song EJ sang??

As far as Star Wars land goes... from what we've seen (and I know its not much) the rides themselves seem rather lame. A motion-simulator based Millenium Falcon ride that you can hardly see out of? Really? In the same parks that have motion-simulator based rides already in Star Tours?? Hopefully the other ride they are hinting at is far better and thriling. The lands look like they will focus heavily on shopping and dining as Disney has seen this is where the real money is.

February 22, 2016 at 12:51 PM ·
Russell as I understand it the two lands will be pretty much the same size on either coast so I don't know why you think the art work could not possibly be for Disneyland alone. Of course it's not, it's the same for both. But it's Disney concept art so you know there's a good bit of fanciful liberties being taken.

February 22, 2016 at 1:12 PM ·
You're right (above poster), it is singular, but it is also three words, Fall Out Boy. I won't tell your sister ;+) And about the "new-fangled music", I'm 59 and have been listening to them for over a year. I just thought that their sound didn't match the venue, and the back-up dancers were just plain ridiculous and distracting. The special had the promise of being so much more. Those of you who liked it, I'm glad you did. I know it is impossible to make everyone happy. This did not make me happy. I wasn't hoping for a documentary- I was hoping for a retrospective of the past 60 years, and for more info about the future of DLR.

February 22, 2016 at 1:30 PM ·
I was glad Fallout Boy didn't sing Uma Thurman that has the Munsters theme as background track. Just imagine them creating a song around Anna and Elsa with the Haunted Mansion theme sampled as the underlying track.

The Millenium Falcon ride is ridden like a video game. You not only steer it around, you can shoot at objects too.

The First Order ride will likely use the trackless ride vehicle from the Ratatouille ride at Paris with the 3D screens. So Disney already has experience with the technology. It won't be Spiderman and Transformers since this is often cited as its inspiration.

I realize that there are always liberties taken with concept drawings, but there were far more settings shown than could possibly be housed in the small corner of Disneyland where Star Wars land will be in that park.

The square footage for the DHS expansion could be far greater, depending upon how much space created by the closing of LMA, Catastrophe Canyon, and the NY Backlot is used for Star Wars and how much is given for the Pixar expansion. The space allotted to Star Wars could grow even bigger if the Studio Drive elimination rumor comes to fruition.

February 22, 2016 at 2:02 PM ·
I caught the first hour (then switched to watch The Walking Dead). My initial impression was that it was a really intricate infomercial. Both the Better Half and I thought the dancers outfits were a bit risque for a Disney park. Still it was a good way to spend and hour on a Sunday night while waiting for the regular programming to start back up.

February 22, 2016 at 3:00 PM ·
James, after reading your review and seeing similar sentiments elsewhere I think I'll pass on the special. While I figured there would definitely be other content, I'd expect a Disneyland 60th anniversary special to be mostly about Disneyland. Even if it was 2/3 Disneyland, 1/3 other stuff that'd be fine. However, it sounds like this is about 1/10 Disneyland, 9/10 infomercial for Disney, and that's not something I feel the need to spend two hours watching.

Sylvain, I've heard that the First Order Battle ride will use one of the largest show buildings ever built by Disney (at least at the US parks). Given the size of the buildings for something like Transformers vs. something like Radiator Springs Racers, I just can't imagine the ride will be 100% screens. I've heard elsewhere that it is going to be Indiana Jones Adventure crossed with the Ratatouille ride, which could potentially be amazing.

Russell, while the land will not be identical at Disneyland and DHS the main components will be the same. Everything seen in the concept art will be present at both parks in some form. Both lands are 14 acres (for comparison, Cars Land is 12) so the amount of space is the same, but the shape and layout will vary. A majority of what has been closed so far at DHS is for Toy Story Land (which will cover 11 acres), as that area is scheduled to be completed first.

February 22, 2016 at 3:51 PM ·
The First Order ride looks like it could be great fun and I can't wait to ride, but the Millennium Falcon ride has me worried since it looks pretty much like another version of Star Tours. I hope I'm wrong though.

February 22, 2016 at 4:26 PM ·
I'm confident that the attractions will turn out entertaining & of high quality. The Director for the Star Wars areas is Scott Trowbridge, who previously worked on a number of Universal attractions, most notably the breakthrough ride of the past two decades, namely Spider Man.

February 23, 2016 at 12:05 AM ·
AJ, the First Order ride sounds like a genuine E Ticket! I'm officially excited about it. Thanks.

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February 24, 2016 at 2:15 AM ·
Take away the stormtroupers and the spaceships and the land doesn't feel from Star Wars.Having lots of restaurants and shops in there copies diagon alley nicely but there it's a huge part of the lore, for Star Wars it isn't. Concept wise and attraction wise this looks like another expensive failure just like mission to mars and new fantasyland.